When Past and the Future Collide
by Ivanjedi
Summary: Timetravel from the end of The Unifying Force to the beginning of ROTS. Hw are the jedi of the new order going to handle the challenges of the old one? AP LM HL jainaJag. NJO spoilers! rated for safety
1. What Happened?

The Millennium Falcon and the Jade Shadow approached Coruscant on sublight speed, followed closely by two X – wings. The pilots, however, found it difficult to focus on the task at hand. The departure of Zonama Sekot broth the Yuuzhan Vong war to an end, but it would be long before the minds of most of the beings in the galaxy came to terms with the new reality.

- What's on your mind, Luke? – asked Mara through the Force, sensing that he is deeply disturbed – the departure of Zonama Sekot is no reason to brood.

- I hate politics – groaned Luke on the open channel – Just watch, in no time at all politicians will accuse the council of giving too much power to the jedi. Cal Omas offered to build us a new temple on Coruscant. I don't know – while the symbolism about restoring the galaxy is a good idea, accepting the offer may tie us to the Galactic Alliance in the long run, which is not a good idea.

-I agree – murmured Mara – but what can we do? With six of the masters in the High council, to situate permanently anywhere else will make us look ineffective, and I'm not putting through that crap again.

Luke sighted. Prior to the invasion, the jedi acted in an uncoordinated manner, with little to no communication even to the local New Republic authorities. As a result, the major public had grown weary of the seemingly random vigilante action of some jedi, whose actions sometimes delayed or worse, deepened the problems to solve. Luke hadn't forgotten the disaster at Rhomanool, where the hasty actions of Wurth Skidder wasted many months of diplomatic efforts by both the New Republic and the jedi and played strait into Nom Anor's mutilated hands. The formation of the High Council mostly solved the problem, but it was formed in times of war and was still unclear how well it would function during peace.

Lost in his thoughts, Luke almost didn't see the formation of large anomaly in the space straight in the course of the four spacecraft. It resembled the beginnings of the Emperor's Force storms. Luke reached with the Force, hoping to stop the highly destructive manifestation of the Dark Side from forming. Coruscant had suffered enough. It didn't need the shocks of a Force storm on top of the damage done by the raging battle and the rampage of the World Brain, driven to near insanity by the demented Supreme Overlord Shimrra. Luke felt the other jedi reaching as well. Big mistake.

As soon as the jedi touched the anomaly, it expanded, growing bigger and bigger with every touch. Worse, none of them was able to withdraw his or her mind off the thing and the X-wings flew straight to it, followed closely by the Jade Shadow. The Falcon kept its distance.

Jaina, Mara, Luke, please respond. Back out of that thing now, please. – Leia ran into the passenger compartment of the Falcon – Jacen, contact your sister now… - Seeing the empty look in her son's eyes, Leia cried – Han, whatever happened to them happened to Jacen too.

Han immediately switched his comlink, calling the fleet:

- This is Millennium Falcon. That thing has trapped the minds of Luke, Jacen, Jaina and Mara. Requesting immediate assistance from anyone in proximity to drag their hides out of there.

The response war immediate. Rebel Dream and Mon Mothma changed course ,as well as several smaller craft. Seveal X-wings also approached at full speed. Those were piloted by the veterans of the Rogue Squadron. A chiss clawcraft with the markings of the Twin Suns Squadron joined them. Listening to the comm chatter, Han picked up their plan:

-Ok, everyone, listen up. Our goal is to shoot down the sublight engines. Once that happens, Han can grab them with the Falcon's tractor beam and change their course.- that was Wedge.

The hair on Han's head rose up, but he realized that this was their best chance. The larger craft, which could safely drag the wayward craft to safety, were hesitant to approach the anomaly in space, not understanding its nature. At the moment, close enough were only the Falcon and the clawcraft, which the Solos recognized as Jagged Fell's. The two craft dove closer to the uncontrolled ships. As they approached firing range, in one final surge, the anomaly engulfed all five ships, shrank and disappeared. When it vanished, there was no trace of the five craft … or their remains.

When the anomaly was gone, so was its influence on the minds of the jedi. Which was a good thing, considering the fact that they entered a war zone. While they immediately recognized the world as Coruscant, however, even from this distance was clear that something weird had happened. The planet was missing the massive scars from Vongforming and war.

- OK. What the hell happened – was all Han was able to comm before a swarm of fighters attacked them. The jedi entered the Force Meld and the five ships started shooting back. Soon the numbers of their foes begun to diminish and they were able to talk through the Force:

-What are this ships? – asked Jaina – they're metal, but I don't sense pilotes. Utter astonishment flooded the Force Meld "It can't be " said Leia. "These are droid fighters. I've seen them in history holos. They were last used by the confederacy of independent system during the Clone Wars.

While the others were still digesting what Leia had said, Luke reached with the Force to the world below. Sure enough, it was there. Heavily cloaked, but unmistakable dark presence. With growing dread, he opened the comm and said:

- He is here.

- Who? – confused asked Han and Jag.

- Emperor Palpatine – answered Mara.

What the hell had happened?

a/n First fanfic. Please R&R


	2. Strange Occurences

A/N Not mine already. Just goofing around.

"And we must report that Grievous escaped," Obi-Wan said. "He is as cowardly as ever."

Mace accepted this news with a nod. "But he is only a mili­tary commander. Without Dooku to hold the coalition together, these so-called independent systems will splinter, and they know it." He looked straight into the Supreme Chancellor's eyes. This is our best chance to sue for peace. We can end this war right now."

And while Palpatine answered, Mace Windu reached into the Force.

To Mace's Force perception, the world crystallized around them, becoming a gem of reality shot through with flaws and fault lines of possibility. This was Mace's particular gift: to see how people and situations fit together in the Force, to find the shear planes that can cause them to break in useful ways, and to intuit what sort of strike would best make the cut. Though he could not consistently determine the significance of the struc­tures he perceived—the darkening cloud upon the Force that had risen with the rebirth of the Sith made that harder and harder with each passing day—the presence of shatterpoints was always clear.

Mace had supported the training of Anakin Skywalker, though it ran counter to millennia of Jedi tradition, because from the structure of fault lines in the Force around him, he had been able to intuit the truth of Qui-Gon Jinn's guess: that the young slave boy from Tatooine was in fact the prophesied chosen one, born to bring balance to the Force. He had argued for the eleva­tion of Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mastership, and to give the training of the chosen one into the hands of this new, untested Master, because his unique perception had shown him powerful lines of destiny that bound their lives together, for good or ill. On the day of Palpatine's election to the Chancellorship, he had seen that Palpatine was himself a shatterpoint of unimaginable signifi­cance: a man upon whom might depend the fate of the Republic itself.

Now he saw the three men together, and the intricate lattice of fault lines and stress fractures that bound them each to the other was so staggeringly powerful that its structure was beyond calculation.

Anakin was somehow a pivot point, the fulcrum of a lever with Obi-Wan on one side, Palpatine on the other, and the galaxy in the balance, but the dark cloud on the Force prevented his perception from reaching into the future for so much as a hint

of where this might lead. The balance was already so delicate that he could not guess the outcome of any given shift: the slightest tip in any direction would generate chaotic oscillation. Anything could happen. Anything at all. A/N So far it's from ROTS novelization

Just as Mace thought that, something did happen. In his mind's eye, Mace saw the simple bonds between Palpatine, Kenobi and Skywalker become a tangled web of connections. Returning his attention to those before him, he saw Anakin and his master looking at each other in confusion. Something had indeed happened. A new and powerful presence had entered the galaxy and there was no telling what the consequences of that would be.

"- We must return to the temple now" – said Obi Wan. Anakin nodded.

"- Well, obviously something happened here" – murmured Palpatine under his nose as his guards relieved the jedi from guard duties as far as he was concerned. The Dark Lord reached with the Force, trying to determine the source of the disturbance. He hated surprises, even when they benefited him, and it was too unclear where this new presence would impact his plans. Palpatine reached deeper and saw an image of a future. Much of Coruscant burned in a large scale battle. Next he saw himself, fighting Yoda and a dark – haired jedi in pilot's suit, without a robe. He looked slightly older than Kenobi, fought with a skill rivaling a Master from the Council, and his raw power rivaled the might of the chosen one. How could this be happening? How he had failed to notice such a powerful jedi? Why he had not shown himself during the war? And most importantly, what he could do to prevent him from ruining centuries of work to destroy the jedi?

Meanwhile, in his quarters in the temple, a knee high jedi Master was also troubled. He had sensed the death of count Dooku. The lingering darkness in the Force confirmed his worst fears – his wayward apprentice was indeed only the Sith apprentice. The Master was still at large, elusive as ever. Then, with no explanation at all, the shadow of the Dark Side dispersed for a few seconds, and Yoda saw glimmers of the future. Two babies were being born, and the next image showed a battle in the Senate. The small green jedi saw himself, with an unfamiliar dark – haired jedi in tow, locked in a fight with the dark Master. The last thing the ancient master saw were the jedi's eyes – familiar set of shining blue eyes.

To say that Anakin Skywalker was displeased would be an understatement. He had hoped to have an opportunity to meet with his secret wife, Padme Amidala, but then he, along with possibly every other knight in the galaxy sensed the strange flicker in the Force. While Anakin had made a record of disregarding hid master's concerns and warnings and was often chided ( and thus annoyed to no end) by him for doing so, none of the things they had been trying each other's patience about had been about something creating so massive an event in the Force. For a change, they had the same opinion about something from the very beginning. This didn't mean he had to like it.

Ironically enough, the thoughts of Obi Wan Kenobi were going along similar lines, abeit not for the same reasons. This was definitely not his day, and the little scalp wound was not the reason for his displeasure. First they had to _fly_ their way through the CIS armada "Force, flying is for droids" after that they walked straight into the trap " How about not doing so for a change" more than once, and now that strange occurrence in the Force, calling for emergency meeting of the Jedi Council all by itself. Kenobi grimaced. The time he had dreamed to be on the Council, it wasn't busy waging seemingly endless war. Lost in his thoughts, he reached the Council meeting chamber.

A/N I hope i didn't make the masters too dumb. But hey, timetravel isn't exactly common in canon SW universe. Thanks for the quotes tip


	3. Council in session

As the last of the masters on the Council took his seat, it quickly became clear that the strange e event and the new presence in the Galaxy will be the main ting to discuss… for the moment.

"Does any of you have any idea what happened out there?" asked master Windu.

"Know what that was, I do not" replied Yoda " Know I, that the shroud of the Dark Side for a few seconds remove it did."

"Are you sure?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi.

"Meditating I was, when happen, it did" answered the tiny Master.

Obi-Wan scratched his beard in thought "Well, before we can identify the new presence, we'll likely be unable to discern what happened"

The masters voiced their agreements, save for Mace Windu.

"I believe all this is connected to Palpatine, master Kenobi and jedi Skywalker."

All eyes converged on him, the concern of the masters easily detectable in the Force. All of the masters knew that the search for Darth Sidious had led to the Supreme Chancellor's inner circle.Obi-Wan asked the question in their minds.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I met the chancellor after the… landing, I felt strong connection between those I mentioned. When the shift in the Force occurred, the connection grew more complex, entangled. I believe we should question Skywalker."

Alarm rang in the mind of Kenobi.

"Bad idea. I'll answer all questions you have to ask me, but if you attempt to force him to reveal his secrets, especially those he keeps even from me, you'll make things worse." Obi-Wan wandered how much this new development was connected with certain senator. "Anakin, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" he thought.

"Agree with Kenobi, I do" said Yoda "A grave danger I sense, if force young Skywalker, we do."

"That may be so, but we cannot afford to wait too long. If we do, the Dark Lord may find a way to use the situation to his advantage."

Master Windu was clearly not pleased with the ancient jedi's position. At that moment, the discussion was interrupted when a young padawan entered the chamber.

"What is it?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi "I hope you have very good reason to interrupt us." The padawan merely handed him a datapad and exited.

The jedi master read. His appearance and facial features betrayed confusion and surprise. The cerean jedi looked at his fellow jedi and spoke:

"There has been some very strange event during the battle Apparently, as the separatist forces retreated, five craft appeared at one of their jump points. What attracted attention was the fact that they didn't jump out of hyperspace, but just appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as well as the fact that four of those were of design used neither by the Republic nor the separatists. The one familiar was a heavily modified corellian YT-1300. The group was observed to be very efficient fighting unit – they decimated two wings of vulture droids in ten minutes. Despite that, they offered no resistance when the Republic forces when surrender was ordered. What's truly weird that of ten passengers aboard those craft four are jedi. Of those, none carried a beacon, nor did they know the codes and have authorization to call for aid. Their names also are absent from any database available. It's as if they did not exist until they showed up earlier today. Their names are Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo, Mara Jade, Luke Lars. They are being broth here as we speak, and the incident is being kept secret from the most of the military command until we can sort it out."

A heavy silence followed the jedi Master's words. None of this made sense, no matter how he masters looked at it. It was not possible for the couple with the same families to be married, which meant that they were siblings or otherwise related – something, which was avoided by the Order and could not be done without the agreement of the Council.

"Very well" said master Windu "Hopefully, these jedi will provide us with at least some answers. Until they come here, I'll go to the Senate. The Chancellor asked for a meeting just before the meeting begun.

A/N 10 passengers – Jag, 3 Skywalkers, 4 Solos, 2 noghri. (Yp, they are here too) As for Skywalkers' fake names – in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

" What is it ?" asked Obi-Wan "You aren't acting like yourself .

If he wasn't worried about his former padawan, the jedi master would have found all this very funny. Anakin Skywalker, believed by many to be the Chosen One spoken in the ancient prophesy, had succeeded to surprise the Council yet again, and in a good way for a change to boot. When the masters had agreed to give the young jedi a seat in the Council due to Chancellor's actions on his behalf, most of them apparently had expected a row because of the refused title of master. Skywalker, however, said nothing on the matter, almost as if it didn't matter to him. Such a change in attitude alarmed his master. +

"Sorry, master" Anakin replied "But I can't shake the feeling that all this is connected to me , and not in a way I'm going to like"

"We shall see" Kenobi said "There come the first two of them"

The jedi general to whom the group had surrendered, reported that the captives were odd assortment of characters. While not immediately agreeing to that assessment, the Council heeded the description and decided to question the strangers in pairs. First two were Mara Jade and Luke Lars – at least that was how they had introduced themselves.

As the strangers entered the Council chamber, they took a good look on the seated jedi. The Council members detected no response from the woman except for the recognition when she saw masters Kenobi and Yoda. On the other hand, the man recognized several more of the jedi present, with traces of grief and relief when he saw the jedi the woman recognized, before his eyes stopped on Skywalker. A variety of emotions passed through him, but he quickly regained control over them and closed his mind from probes.

"Hmmm. An enigma, you are" began Yoda "Darkness, I sense in you, but dominate you, it does not. Powerful, you are, but known to us, you are not"

"It's unusual, but not unheard of jedi to be trained without the knowledge of this Council." added master Windu "Your timing, however, opens many questions. What will happen with you now, depends on the decisions made by those present here."

" I very much doubt we'll be able to give you satisfactory answers" said Luke, his expression unreadable "Mainly because what's happening makes no sense to us in the first place."

"What do you mean ?" asked Obi-Wan "How is this possible?"

"Well, to best of my knowledge, the last of you died twenty-six years ago. Twenty-three years earlier the Republic fell." said Luke.

"This is absolute nonsense" exclaimed Ki-AdiMundi "What exactly are you implying?"

"The best explanation we have, however bizarre it may sound, is that we have been somehow transported back in time forty-nine years"

A heavy silence settled in the Council chamber following Luke's last words. Logical thought screamed at impossibility of time travel, but the stranger's words rang true – that much no member of the Council could deny. As the masters sank in thought, Luke suddenly stumbled. Mara was immediately by his side, helping him to remain upright.

"Are you all right ?" she asked.

"I will be." Luke answered "I haven't been able to completely purge the poison from the Scepter yet."

Everyone watched carefully at what happened and most of the masters frowned, both at the conversation and the fact, that the healing effort broke Luke's facade. The eyes of Yoda and Kenobi widened slightly as they sensed Luke's true power. His raw power rivaled that of the Chosen One. Both of them realized that he would make a formidable foe in battle. Master Windu spoke:

"I sense strong bond between two of you. Attachments are forbidden to the jedi. You should have been taught about that"

"They are forbidden now, not fifty years in the future" retorted Mara.

"Hmpf" said Yoda, tapping on the floor with his gimmer stick. "Attachments lead to jealousy, and jealousy leads to the Dark Side."

Luke looked at him.

"There was never time to teach me the details" he said "Without guidance, I had to use my own experience to restore the Jedi Order. "What do you mean restore the Order?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi in alarm.

"When master Yoda died of old age, I was the last jedi left. As such, it fell to me do destroy the Sith and help undo the damage they did to the Galaxy.

"You killed both the master and the apprentice?" asked Anakin doubtfully. Luke locked eyes with him and answered:

"No. I made them turn on each other"

"Impossible!" exclaimed Ki-Adi-Mundi "It's known that the Sith don't waste any loyalty to each other, but they'll always turn on a jedi first."

"Not if there is a strong bond between the jedi and the apprentice" Mara said. A stunned silence followed her words. With all looks converging on Luke, he closed his еyеs, sighed and dropped the bomb:

"He was my father. I helped him free himself from the Dark Side"

A stunned silence followed Luke's words. As far as the time travelers could determine, all the masters had trouble digesting the last revelation. Predictably, Master Yoda was the first to recover:

"Forty-nine years have passed, you say. No older than that, you look."

Luke nodded.

"I'll be born in few weeks. Several days after the fall of the Republic, actually."

"I hope you realize that your story becomes more difficult to believe with every word. Assuming it's true, we have far bigger problem than working out the details. You said you fought the Dark Lord. If this is true, you can direct us to him" said Master Windu. Mara laughed at that.

"That's rich. You probably know where he is better than us now. After all, I believe every one of you have met him numerous times"

"Traced the Dark Lord to chancellor's inner circle, we have" said Yoda, his eyes nearly closed.

"Then you were on the right track The Chancellor is the Dark Lord." Mara said. Anakin jumped to his feet:

"Impossible! The Chancellor is a good man!"

"Yeah, right. Real good " Mara added venomously. Luke put his hand on her shoulder

"Indeed? Exactly what makes you think that?" he asked, the awful memory of the Bespin confrontation appearing in his mind unwanted. Unable to come up with a good answer, Anakin continued to look in the disturbing blue eyes, so much like his own. Without warning, he stood up and stormed out of the Council chamber.

A/N The announcement at the end of the previous chapter was made with a different chapter in mind, one I just couldn't do right. Sorry about that. The plot points in the dropped chapter will NOT be dropped.


	5. Chapter 5

** A/N Disclamer: I do not own Star Wars. Just fooling around in his playground.**

The masters exchanged confused, worried glances. The implications of what they were just told were many, and none of them good. The sudden exit of Anakin Skywalker was no comforting matter, either.

"Much trust in the Chancellor, young Skywalker had placed. Easy on him, this will be not." The ancient master's gaze turned to Luke and Mara. "Tell us everything you know, you must. Foil the Dark Lord's plans, we will." Yoda's eyes narrowed. "Begin with your real name, you will."

Luke suppressed a small smile. Trust Yoda to see right through him.

"It's pointless to hide it anymore. My name is Luke Skywalker."

At that point, nobody was surprised to see master Kenobi make a hasty exit. The rest wore similar, grim expressions. Luke continued:

"I believe my sister will be able to provide you with details, but basically the massacre of the jedi begins and nearly ends with Order 66, at which the clone armies turn on the jedi. More than ninety percent of the Order is annihilated in a matter of hours. At the same time, my father was turned and started to hunt down the rest. I have met only four jedi active through the Clone Wars."

The masters were clearly shocked by the news of the treachery and didn't bother concealing it.

"How was your father turned?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"I don't know. The cover-up to hide me and Leia from the Sith was thorough. In twenty-five years we have been unable to identify our mother."

After several minutes of silence, master Yoda spoke:

"Wait too much, we already have. Fall, the Republic will. Make sure that the Order survives, we must. Destroy the Sith, we must."

"If we arrest the Chancellor, the Republic will crumble. We'll do general Grievous' job for him" Master Windu said with a grimace. "This just keeps getting better and better."

"Not if he is dead." Mara said. "If I remember correctly, our history files say that at the time of Order 66 master Kenobi was on Utapau, where he killed Grievous."

"I suggest we consult with the rest of the time travelers about this, than make sure we rid ourselves of Sidious AND Gievous." Ki-AdiMundi shook his head. "Talk about a best choice."

The remaining masters voiced their agreements, and Master Windu adjourned the meeting. At that moment, master Kenobi entered the Council chamber and held up Anakin's lightsaber.

"We have a problem. Anakin has disappeared."

Meanwhile, in a hidden chamber connected to the Supreme Chancellor's apartment, Darth Sidious read the reports. They suggested that the new presence in the galaxy he had detected earlier consisted of not one but several jedi nobody had even heard of until today. This couldn't be possibly timed worse. The Dark Lord reached into the Force and his fears were confirmed – where previously his visions showed the fighting stop, the war having served its purpose, now The Force showed him the fighting continue, with the jedi winning in the end. Once again, he saw himself fighting Yoda, but now with him were Kenobi and Windu. Sidious let go and focused on his prize. But the Chosen One had disappeared. Palpatine's eyes narrowed as he felt a sense of urgency and a growing headache. For his visions to change like this in such a short time, it meant that everything could happen. Nothing was certain any more, but one thing was certain – he had to speed up things if he hoped to prevail.

A/N Ok.I'm sorry i'm moving a little slow with the story, but with exams coming I don't have much time to write. I expect the agressive negotiations to begin in couple of chapters.


	6. Chapter 6

It took most of Anakin Skywalker's control to keep his training bond with Obi-Wan and thus prevent the sick dread he felt from

It took most of Anakin Skywalker's control to keep his training bond with Obi-Wan shut and thus prevent the sick dread he felt from emanating through the Force.

There was this nagging feeling that the new presence was connected to him. At first, it seemed to be unfounded. In fact, Anakin was somewhat amused to hear that the new Jedi shared a name with his stepbrother, Owen. This was, however, before the Chancellor appointed him on the Jedi Council and Padme dropped her bomb. The baby meant that he had to change his plans, most likely leave the Order. Then came the name she suggested for the baby, if it was a boy. Luke. The feeling returned, this time hitting him with almost physical force. This was no coincidence, he could feel it.

However impossible the tale of the visitor was, it was true. And before Anakin knew it, the feeling turned into fear and after that in dread. Anakin was captivated by the Jedi master's blue eyes, which confirmed to him the connection. As the visitor's revealed more and more details about themselves, Anakin almost found amusing the reaction of his fellow members of the Council about key issues in the code in the background of a truly awful future. Almost.

The moment the Jedi announced the timing of his birthday, Anakin realized the time traveler was his son, and he was the Dark Lord spoken of.. In a desperate hope to be proven wrong in his conclusions, the refused to believe the identification of the Dark Lord. The glimpse of his son's memory, however, dispelled any doubt about it. The Sith in his son's memory was Anakin himself. Even if everything else was elaborate fabrication, the image from his vision was unknown even to Obi-Wan.

As Anakin sped towards his quarters, one thing became painfully clear in his mind – his son's memories and revelations clearly showed that if he remained around, he'd hurt everyone of value in his life. In the end, Yoda had been proven right. His training had been a mistake all along. Now he had to disappear completely. If the Jedi knight wasn't there, there would not be a Dark Lord. He smiled bitterly at the idea of the Chosen one becoming a Lost one, gathered some personal belongings, left a short message to Obi-Wan and his lightsaber and left the temple for the last time.

* * *

"My name is Luke Skywalker." The words rang through Obi-Wan Kenobi's mind, and he struggled to find his inner peace, the shock about the seemingly impossible background of the unknown Jedi thrown into the back of his mind. Anakin had done it again. He'd gone against the rules, pulling a stunt of apparently incalculable proportions.

Obi-Wan's thoughts trailed back to the events involving Qui – Gon and Xanatos. The Jedi Master shuddered as he realized that in the event of Anakin turning, it was most likely that his Master would have been sent to stop him. At this point, Obi-Wan was unsure if he had the skill to defeat Anakin… or the will to carry him through such confrontation.

But how long had this been going on behind his back? The Jedi Master searched his memories as he neared Anakin's quarters, searching for clues, and the pieces of the puzzle started to come together.

It was shortly after Geonosis when he'd noticed Anakin's subdued, somewhat humbled behavior, with some patience which seemed almost out of place in him. Obi-wan smiled wryly. It didn't last very long, and he'd credited it to the defeat at the hands of Dooku. But in the light of the new revelations… Yes, the pattern was becoming clear. Anakin was always easiest to work with immediately in the beginnings of their missions, after spending time on Coruscant, and was being most difficult just prior returning to the capital. If the circumstances had been different, the Jedi Master would have laughed at the irony. The Senator of Naboo behaved much more Jedi – like than Anakin, and apparently he was being influenced by her.

"Three years." Kenobi muttered. "Just how much damage was done because of living in a lie for three years, I wonder."

Obi-Wan opened the door, revealing empty quarters. A quick search revealed Anakin's lightsaber and a note. 

"**Obi-Wan**

**If you haven't figured it out yet, the Dark Lords this Luke 'Lars' speaks of is me. Well, Sidious can't turn someone he can't find now, can he? Goodbye, Obi-Wan. You were the closest thing I had to a father. I hope you can forgive me someday."**

"Anakin, Anakin." Kenobi groaned. "Why do you always have to make things more difficult than they have to be? The Council must hear of this."


	7. Chapter 7

The Jedi Temple was abuzz with activity

The Jedi Temple was abuzz with activity.

Granted, the activity in the Temple never truly stopped. But since the time – travelers had delivered their shocking revelation several nearly 24 standard hours earlier, it was a madhouse. Or at least appeared so to the younger Padawans and the younglings. Some of the knights were confused by the Council's orders as well.

"I don't understand." A Mon – calamari Jedi Knight said as he was studying the plans of the foundations of the Temple. "The Council has effectively ordered us to devise evacuation routes for in case the Temple falls under attack. Aren't we supposed to be closer to victory now that Skywalker killed Dooku?"

"Those strange Jedi that were brought here earlier today have something to do with this for sure. I heard the group annihilated an nearly a whole wing of vulture droids in ten minutes. I had a look at them. The strangest bunch of characters I've ever seen." A bothan Jedi said. "The members of the Council are questioning them personally. Whatever's happening, it's very big, even compared to the war, and very bad."

Meanwhile, in the Council chamber, the senior Masters of the Old and the New Jedi Orders talked.

"Question your friends, we did. Provide much information on the Sith we face, they did not."

"I'm not surprised. The only Force – sensitives who had faced him in battle were me and Leia. I managed to help Mara break free of his influence, but she didn't come to face him later."

"Humph. Much of what we were told, difficult to accept is. The next move of the Sith, what you expect to be?"

"Well, he prided himself for his ability to see into the future. In fact, his belief that what he'd foreseen was the only possible future was what led to his first defeat. I think he'll make his move sooner and with more feeble excuse than the first time. While I don't think he has discovered our origin yet, I'll be very surprised if he hasn't recognized the threat we pose to his plans yet."

"Deepen the conflict, this will. Destroy the Sith fast we must. Fought the Master, you had. Join us in the attack, you will."

"What about my friends?"

"Know their skills best you do. Put them to their best use you must. However, informed the Council must be if leave the Temple they are to.

"I understand, master."

As Luke prepared to leave the chamber, the door opened from the outside. It was master Windu, whose annoyance was evident. The two Jedi exchanged nods and Luke left.

"I don't know how Skywalker's son manages to work with that pilot, Solo." Mace said in exasperation. "His attitude is worse than Anakin's!"

"Worked with him for many years, he had. Just like Obi-Wan with Anakin."

"Whatever. I looked at the pattern of the Separatist attacks. They were always where the most experienced masters were stationed."

"The entire war, a tool to reduce the number of the Jedi it was. Lost it was since Geonosis. But dwell on that we must not. Without the Dark Lord, end the war quickly will. Gather our best duelers we must."

"Isn't this what we did the first time too?"

"A trap, it seems to be. Used it to convince Anakin to join him, Sidious did, I believe. If careful enough are we, catch the Dark Lord in his own trap we will."

"And if we make a mistake? We're putting the future of both the Republic and the Jedi Order on the line here." 

"Great risk there is, no matter what we do. Need the Republic to survive, the Order does not. Almost succeed to turn the Republic into an enemy of the Order, Sidious did. Good for the Galaxy in its current form, the Republic is not. A mistake it was to make ourselves so dependant to it."

"Yes, I agree. But must we stand back now and watch the Galaxy plunge into chaos?"

"In chaos already, the Galaxy is. Little hope to preserve the Republic we have. Preserve the Jedi Order we must. What the Order stands for, change will not." Yoda sighed. "For too long, listen to our own advice we did not." Meeting Mace's incredulous look, the ancient master explained. "Long have we advised our padawans not to assume things, yet assume the Council did that the Republic always represent democracy would we did."

Master Windu nodded. "Dooku didn't lie to Kenobi three years ago. There are very few Senators left who remain true to the Republic. With the information given to us by the time travelers, we picked the senators of Alderaan and Chandrila to contact."

"Good. Perhaps help each other we can.


End file.
